Volume 2 Clouds Chapter 19: Pull him away and chop him off!
Luo Youdu, who had won a great victory, did not relax, but instead pulled Cao Bin to seriously review the entire battle.
Why do we say that hindsight is 20/20?
Because everything after the event is right in front of you, the pros and cons are fully presented, and it is easy to discover things that you have previously overlooked.
Find out those details that you did not think of and overlooked when you were responding to situations, then analyze the reasons, learn lessons, and enrich yourself.
Is Lee Jung-gyu strong?
Luo Youdu felt that he was quite strong. Looking at the Later Shu, his military ability was among the best.
But looking at the world as a whole, Li Tinggui is probably only at an upper-middle level.
He should be inferior to the Liao Dynasty's first-class generals such as Yelu Xiu'ge and Yelu Xizhen.
Luo Youdu was not satisfied with defeating Li Tinggui, and his opponent was never the extravagant Meng Chang, but the Liao Dynasty in the far north.
Luo Youdu asked himself if he was a genius like Huo Qubing and Han Xin, who were born to fight and maxed out their talent points and skills right from the start.
He could only constantly absorb experience, enrich himself, and evolve step by step to a level where he could compete against the world's top generals.
Therefore, he must maximize the experience gained from this battle.
"There are some problems with the allocation of forces. The Chencang Road is narrow and we are being attacked from both sides. Zhang Jianxiong's troops do not need 2,000 men."
"I'm not confident enough about the situation. I should have sent people to blockade Ma Ling Village in advance and decisively cut off their retreat, not giving them the slightest chance..."
Not only did Luo Youdu stand on his own side, he also analyzed the battle situation from Li Tinggui's perspective.
"Li Tinggui's biggest problem is that he is always one step behind us, especially under Fengzhou City. If he had simply given up on the rescue and retreated to Maling Village, his entire army would not have been wiped out."
Cao Bin said: "But when it really comes to that point, giving up also requires great courage. Even if Bin knows that giving up is the most correct choice, when it really comes to that point, he is not sure that he can make this decision in the first place."
"Yes!" Luo Youdu nodded in approval, "Learning to give up is also a skill. It is better to lose several pieces than to lose the initiative. This is the truth."
"It is better to lose several moves than to lose an initiative!" Cao Bin's eyes sparkled with admiration, thinking, "If a man like you is so hardworking, why shouldn't I study hard?"
For three days in a row, Luo Youdu reviewed the battle situation with Cao Bin. It was not until the fourth day that he asked about the situation of Wang Jing and Han Lingkun.
Wang Jing and Han Lingkun also received frequent good news.
Li Tinggui did not support Cheng and Jie states, resulting in a serious shortage of defensive troops in the two states.
The defenders of the two places could only gather their soldiers and defend the provincial capital, completely ignoring the surrounding counties and towns.
Wang Jing and Han Lingkun easily captured all the counties and towns in Chengzhou and Jizhou except the provincial capitals, turning Chengzhou and Jizhou into isolated cities.
They did not attack either, but unanimously adopted the strategy of attacking the hearts of the people, constantly persuading them to surrender, indicating that Meng Chang had already given up on them and that no reinforcements would arrive. They also said that they did not choose to attack the city because they did not want to cause more killings.
After confirming that there were no reinforcements, Cheng and Jie states could not withstand the pressure and chose to surrender their cities.
After Wang Jing and Han Lingkun left their troops to take over the city defense, they went to Fengzhou one after another.
After waiting in Fengzhou for three days, Luo Youdu greeted Wang Jing and Han Lingkun outside the city.
One of them was waiting, while the other was chasing. They met on the way and arrived in Fengzhou together.
"Brother Luo, that's amazing!"
Wang Jing's loud voice rang out: "You used less than 9,000 soldiers to wipe out 15,000 enemies. This doesn't look like someone who is leading troops for the first time. I admire you."
He didn't care if Luo Youdu gave him a share of the pie.
At his age now, this status has reached its limit.
The tyrant of the northwest of the Great Zhou Dynasty, stationed in Fengxiang, holds military and political power.
What don’t you want?
What if I make more achievements?
Guo Rong could also hand over all of Guanzhong to him to lead, and make him the King of Guanzhong? Or the King of Qin?
The Prince of Wei, Fu Yanqing, was enough to give the Emperor of the Great Zhou a headache, so how could he possibly promote him again?
What Wang Jing cared about was the fact that Luo Youdu would think of him when there was benefit and share the benefit with him.
Han Lingkun and Wang Jing are just the opposite.
He still has room for promotion, and he needs achievements to consolidate his position.
Luo Youdu did not take all the credit for himself, but even used sincere words to share the credit. This was extremely rare in their group of military meritorious officials, so Han Lingkun naturally did not hesitate to praise him, saying: "Luo Dujian is both civil and military, and he is really amazing and admirable."
"Thank you for the compliments, brothers. I am lucky and it is also thanks to you. If it were not for your great reputation, Li Tinggui would not dare to go to Qishan Road to find you. How could I have this opportunity..."
After praising each other, the three of them returned to Fengzhou happily.
The main purpose of this Western Expedition was to recover the four states of Qin, Feng, Cheng and Jie, and the goal has been achieved.
However, they cannot withdraw their troops now. They have to report the victory to the court and are also waiting for further instructions from Guo Rong.
After all, it was impossible to continue to employ Meng Chang's people to govern the four newly acquired states.
Only after the provincial governors and the military governors who guard the four states arranged by Guo Rong take office, can they complete the handover and withdraw their troops with peace of mind.
During this rare free time, Luo Youdu also took the opportunity to get close to Wang Jing and Han Lingkun.
Wang Jing finally got his wish and drank with Luo Youdu.
On this day, Luo Youdu was practicing horse riding in the military camp outside the city.
Zhang Jianxiong was a famous cavalry general of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so he personally taught Luo Youdu how to ride.
Zhang Jianxiong now admires Luo Youdu very much and does not hide anything from him.
A horseman came from afar.
"Superintendent Luo, Duke Bao invites you to the meeting room."
Luo Youdu said hello to Zhang Jianxiong and rode his horse towards Fengzhou City.
Fengzhou had just experienced a war and the people were in panic, so there were not many people on the streets.
Luo Youdu quickly crossed the long street and arrived at the Fengzhou Conference Hall.
Walking in with big strides, Luo Youdu found that Wang Jing and Han Lingkun were both there.
They sat at the top, one on the left and one on the right.
In the middle of the hall stood a scholar in blue, standing proudly.
Wang Jing saw Luo Youdu coming and said happily, "Brother Luo, hurry up, you've come just in time. This is the envoy from Shu, and he wants to see the emperor. We are both rough guys, and we don't know how to respond. I asked you to come and see what you mean!"
Luo Youdu quickly walked to the upper left corner of the council hall.
The scholar in blue looked away, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He never expected that the man who wiped out Li Tinggui's troops and caused panic in Shu Kingdom was so young.
He bowed slightly and said, "I am Fan Yupi, the Minister of Personnel. I am here on the orders of my master to bring a letter to see your emperor. I hope you can send someone to escort me to the capital."
Luo Youdu's heart was moved, and he tried to ask, "Your master? Who is your master?"
Fan Yupi's eyes flashed with anger, and he said respectfully: "He is the Emperor of Great Shu!"
Luo Youdu no longer looked at Fan Yupi and said to Wang Jing, "There's nothing to say. Take him away and chop him off!"
